Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
The federal government(FG) has encouraged women entrepreneurs to upgrade their knowledge and acquire all required documentations for participation in procurement processes of private and public institutions.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Ms. Paullen Tallen, explained at a high-level policy dialogue and exhibition that the government’s sole aim is to promote the application of Gender-Responsive Procurement practices in public and private organisations.
With the theme hinged on “Strengthening the Capacity of Local MSMEs/Manufacturers to Produce High-quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and Healthcare-related Products,” Tallen stressed the need for women entrepreneurs to have the necessary documents to meet with the required standard needed to engage in procurement processes like their male counterparts.
She said: “All the procurement in ministries must be gender sensitive. But at the same time, women must meet all the standards. We should not lower the standard because we want to favour women. Women are more than able.”
She described women as catalysts in the growth and development of any country, adding that, “in Nigeria, women account for 41 per cent of the ownership of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) represented by 23 million female entrepreneurs.
“This has placed Nigeria among other sovereign Ssates with a significantly high number of female entrepreneurs globally,” she said.
She, however, noted that women-owned businesses are mostly Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), saying that “women had the potentials to expand in scope, diversify supply chains, grow the economy as well as simultaneously improve the lives of women and girls in Nigeria.”
Tallen said that despite governments’ efforts to support and empower women in MSMEs, access and participation in some of these procurement opportunities has remained challenging.
“These challenges are hinged upon the fact that procurement institutions, policies and practices are gender neutral and dominated by men. “As such, there is huge gender disparity when it comes to access procurement information by women-owned businesses.
“Even when a business owned by a woman eventually makes it to the bidding process, they have limited social and financial capital to compete effectively,” she said.
The minister said the event was organised with the collaboration of UN Women and other partners to promote gender responsive procurement practices in the government and private sectors by prioritising women-owned MSMEs.
The UN Women Country Representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, said that 63 women entrepreneurs were trained on producing PPEs to international standard, business mentorship and branding to manage large skill production to cushion the effects of COVID-19.
Eyong noted that there are challenges of ready market for women entrepreneurs’ products, urging stakeholders to include women in the procurement processes of their organisations.
She said: “Address knowledge gaps among procurement officers on how to apply gender responsive procurement strategies and increase the participation of women entrepreneurs in the procurement space of both private and public organisations.”
